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Thursday, 15 December 2011

Winds of Change

The eponymous Tower here is actually a three part building, sitting on a little island. Fierce waves rise up all about, as though trying to reach the building and suck it in, their power shown by the shipwreck in the background. Air elementals blow fiercely at the Tower, and a bolt of lightning strikes the highest roof. Despite the onslaught and desolation, the Tower still seems to stand tall, though there is a fire burning inside the section where the lightning struck.

My sense here is of a situation where there is outward calm in the face of difficulties. Yet there is transformation going on internally, a reaction to the circumstances which cannot be fought or denied. Old patterns and structures will eventually have to give way, but something new will be forged in the process. And perhaps not the whole structure needs to go, though still the largest part of it.

This feels in some ways quite a positive version of the Tower, though still challenging. Although it isn't my favourite card in the tarot, it's one I seem to have a close relationship with :( I wondered if this was just my paranoia speaking, but when I went in and checked, it is the Major I have blogged about most often, and all of those posts were as a randomly drawn card. The next closest card is the Hight Priestess, and several of her posts are ones I chose, rather than them choosing me!

I have had the Tower popping up rather a lot since I was first pregnant with Big Boy. And I guess having a child is always a challenge to our established sense of self and lifestyle, the way we do things and what we do. From the small things, like the fact I used to always just travel with hand luggage, and now heft around a huge amount of stuff (how can someone so small require so much?) to the bigger things, they all play into our sense of self.

So, what does this mean for me today? I wonder whether I will have an insight into what these changes to my sense of self mean, and where I am now compared to four years ago...

I am grateful for the forging of a new self, however hard it may at times feel.

I agree, it adds an interesting new perspective. I see it as one building but with multiple parts. And if one part is destroyed, it will affect the whole structure. But that's not quite the same as having to start from zero...

I really really like this illustration. I've been known to snort with laughter upon drawing the RWS Tower in readings - I'm afraid it just looks so melodramatic to me, though it absolutely shouldn't as this total destruction is at it's heart, no matter what comes next, and that IS a terrifying thing.However, I really enjoyed this post, and your idea that there is 'outward calm in the face of difficulties', yet inner transformation is still going on. Because 'Tower' moments rarely look like that RWS image - okay, sometimes life falls apart in a really big, obvious way and everyone can see you going through it. But often it's partially or completely internalised, and this card really captures that. I particularly like the little island it's sitting on - reminding us that those Tower moments can be really isolating.

I think you make some really good points - the Tower card does look really dramatic and yet Tower moments sometimes happen in very subtle ways, we may not even realise just what they mean until long after. And I love the fact you noticed the little island - I didn't see that, but it's so true!